'The Suicide Squad' Review: A Knee Slappin', Head Explodin', Starfish Slayin' Good Time
James Gunn’s Murder Carnival pumps new blood into the terribly divisive DCEU
The term ‘roller coaster ride’ somehow both perfectly describes and terribly undermines what has been achieved with ‘The Suicide Squad’. On one hand, the film takes fairly static characters and puts them through corkscrews, loop de loops, and at the end of the ride, those who rode it laugh at the commemorative photo that was taken during the big drop. On the other hand, James Gunn has cemented himself as master of the ensemble piece as well as the ‘Dr. Seuss of death’. After proving his mastery of inter-character dynamics with Guardians of the Galaxy, he is given an assembly of characters whose general purpose is to be mean for a bit then die and was tasked with making the audience care when they eventually become blood stains on the pavement. That’s a mountain for any director to climb, so Gunn tried to not dwell on the peak and decorated the path with all the homicidal whimsy he could think of.
The Suicide Squad is a ‘day in the life’. It is another issue, a new episode, a run of the mill mission for Task Force X. The story is very A to B. There is a twist which could be a surprise to some people but anyone familiar with the comic history or general purpose of Task Force X to the government it feels inevitable, as do their consequences. This is fairly typical of a James Gunn script but rarely a detriment. He presents his players with very specific and defined character traits, puts them in very concrete situations and watches how they react. Another aspect of most Gunn scripts is a central theme of ‘familial relationships’. In The Suicide Squad, it manifests in a few places; Polka-Dot Man’s (David Dastmalchian) mommy issues are worth a mention, or the abusive father that most of these characters seemed to grow up with. But it’s Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) who shoulder the weight of this particular motif; the relationship is that of a father-daughter bond, with Ratcatcher 2 looking for a surrogate father, and Bloodsport trying to learn to be one. For the majority of their shared screen time, the barometer for the relationship manifests as a reoccurring joke about Bloodsport’s fear of rats, and so the sub plot’s presence is just enough to exist. It was in actuality, a very tactful, soft touch from Gunn as writer/director to give this relationship just enough. Any more emphasis, and it may have seemed forced or a tad schlocky considering the absurdity of the source material. To some this will make the film feel lacking in depth, they’re right, but it feels earned in a way. Too much drama would undermine the absurdity, and vice versa.
Each character is exactly who they are presented as with very little deviation, perhaps with only one exception. This stringent definition of character allows the cast to take that definition to its extreme in every case and puts their interactions front and center. As defined as the core cast of characters are they had to be cast well and there is not a weak link among them. I am convinced that Margot Robbie at this point, is more Harley than Margo, given how effortlessly she embodies the iconic character. Even though her time on screen feels less than her previous appearances, her story arc feels tailor-made to illustrate her growth in those appearances. Elba plays the dirtbag with a heart of gold well enough to carry the small amount of emotional weight with the help of Ratcatcher 2 and the all-too-short cameo by Taika Waititi. John Cena’s peace-obsessed psychopath provides a very punchable face for the audience’s hatred and Joel Kinnaman’s likable, non-strung out take on Col. Rick Flagg is miles more enjoyable than his last outing. The two comic reliefs, if they can even be called that given the rest of the characters, are effective. King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone, is an inoffensive derivative of the Groot formula. Meanwhile, David Dastmalchian plays the weird and awkward character of Polka Dot Man as a weird, awkward and hilariously deadpan character who has a surprising amount of heart to his story. The cameo characters with the shortened life spans were all well cast with the highlights being Jai Courtney’s returning Captain Boomerang and Nathan Fillion’s hilariously useless The Detachable Kid. What the film lacks is a true antagonist. Peter Capaldi’s Thinker should be larger in this larger than life story, but is used very seldom beyond your standard expositional villainous monologue. Cena’s Peacemaker seems like he too could be a major heel in the film, but the character lacks any real sympathy or likability for audiences to become invested in him. In fact, the whole situation feels more like a force of nature bringing the conflict closer to that of a disaster film than that of the superhero genre. But in a film about villains, the existence of a badder bad guy would feel somewhat gratuitous.
The production and look of the film are fairly typical of DC at this point. Costumes were fun and colorful which is align with the new visual direction of DC but still has that grime to it that was started in the Snyder era. The low saturation and gritty set design work better here for The Suicide Squad than it did for the likes of Wonder Woman or Superman. But what sets this film apart from those is the playful presentation James Gunn brings. The music choices are thoughtful and placed with care as opposed to the first ‘Suicide Squad’ which beat you over the head with as many as they could as fast as they could. To really illustrate the difference, look at the chapter titles. A typical superhero film, even Gunn’s own, presents locations or chapter titles in a very flat shot with big bold white lettering or whatever the trend is at the time. The Suicide Squad uses more surreal means to convey information similar to Jared Hess or Wes Anderson films. That playful nature is also the key in making murder fun, something that Gunn has mastered over the years. If you cannot find the humor in watching two ruthless mercenaries casually murder a camp of freedom fighters by accident in a vain ‘whose gun is bigger’ competition then clearly this film is not right for you. The film earns its hard-R rating with a hefty amount of comical gore; nearly all the deaths have some sort of comical element, which effectively hit the audience like an explosive pie in the face. In fact, an explosive pie in the face is a good way to describe the film as a whole.
The Suicide Squad as a concept is built off of morbid whimsy; a guilty pleasure of seeing bad people give worse people exactly what they deserve. Two directors come to mind when I picture this concept. One is Quinten Tarantino who has built a legendary career off the concept, and the other is now James Gunn. His eye for finding the fun in mass murder creates a tone for his projects that have become his signature. It’s the tone that was sought after by Warner Bros the first time around which led them to butcher what could have been a great film in its own right in the editing room. But to really pull off the James Gunn tone the film has to be one thing above all else: self-aware. Every creative mind that contributed to this film knew exactly what kind of film they were making. That’s why the story was very straightforward and the character development kept to a minimum, to not deter from the spectacle, no matter how gruesome that spectacle is. The result won’t change your life or blow your mind but James Gunn’s homicidal house of fun is a wild ride from start to finish.